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Cryptocurrency exchange is a digital platform where you can easily buy, sell, and store various digital currencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Exchanges generally work like stock trading apps, where transactions can be made at low costs and safely.
Cryptocurrency exchange is a digital platform where you can easily buy, sell, and store various digital currencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Exchanges generally work like stock trading apps, where transactions can be made at low costs and safely.
Below is the list of the best crypto exchanges in the world, selected by Business Insider in 2025—
Top 25 Crypto Exchanges
Coinbase is a publicly traded company that stores more than 12% of the world's total bitcoin. Currently, Coinbase Custody holds over $300 billion in digital assets (such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana). It’s not the cheapest exchange, but it can charge a premium due to its security and reliability. In late 2023, Coinbase registered in Bermuda, so it can compete in the offshore crypto derivatives market like Deribit.
Binance made it back onto Forbes’ list in 2025 and is in the top five after rectifying past rule violations. It is the second largest exchange by assets, although it is not active in the United States. However, it is still the world leader in terms of trading volume and is a leader in the markets of BRICS countries and Europe. Binance's US-based branch (Binance.US) was not included in the ranking due to its very low trading volume.
Binance does not disclose ownership information, but its founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ), who was recently released from prison, is still believed to be the main owner of the company. According to Forbes, CZ is currently the richest person in the crypto world with a net worth of $65 billion. While the company has not yet released a full audit, it regularly publishes asset information through on-chain snapshots and is working on conducting a formal audit for the first time.
CME Group is the world's largest bitcoin futures exchange, although it is not for general investors. Its strong performance in 2024 saw its crypto trading volume increase by 135% and the amount of capital invested in bitcoin futures contracts increase by 83% to more than $20 billion.
Menlo Park-based Robinhood.com benefited greatly from the November 2024 elections. It has seen a 780% increase in trading volume in a year. Why? The company has launched a special prediction market for betting on the election results and offers free trading of various assets. It is the main market for meme coins, with Dogecoin’s market capitalization reaching $15 billion after the election, up from $6 billion in October.
Upbit is one of the largest crypto exchanges in South Korea, with nearly 10 million customers. It is one of the top 10 largest holders of Bitcoin. The exchange is owned by Song Chi-hyung, one of Korea’s richest investors. Upbit focuses on trading payment tokens like XRP and XLM, rather than Bitcoin.
The Korean regulator is currently investigating Upbit’s “Know Your Customer (KYC)” policy, after it found some document irregularities in its license renewal application. However, Upbit said that all exchanges in the country are under review, no decision has been made yet, and the number of irregularities has not been verified.
Bitget announced a partnership with World Cup-winning Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi in October 2022, which was a brilliant marketing move. Messi went on to win the World Cup in 2022 and the Copa America in 2024, a campaign that gained Bitget millions of new users.
Although Bitget is legally registered in the Seychelles, according to LinkedIn, most of its employees work in the Singapore region. The exchange is the first to popularize “copy trading” in crypto trading, where customers can automatically follow the trades of successful traders. Currently, this copy trading accounts for 20% of the exchange's total trading volume.
OKX, formerly known as Ok Coin, is now a more regulated crypto platform. It is licensed by regulators in France, Turkey, Dubai, Singapore, and Australia. It is also a sponsor of the McLaren Formula 1 team. OKX holds at least $15 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum and has over 22 million monthly visitors to its website. The company’s trading fees are low, making it attractive to investors.
US-based Kraken holds over $30 billion in assets and is known for its low trading fees and a variety of crypto products. It is currently focusing on the offshore derivatives business and is strategically planning to acquire new companies.
The Gemini exchange’s total assets grew by 34% to $19 billion in 2024. It is a company owned by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, which has expanded internationally with licenses in France and Singapore. Although the expansion has taken place, the company is laying off 10% of its workforce by the end of 2024 to cut costs.
Luxembourg-based Bitstamp is a global crypto exchange, but it’s particularly strong in Europe. It meets some of the important criteria for a high ranking, such as a large asset base, clear ownership structure, credible audit history, and strong crypto products. Recently, Robinhood signed a deal to acquire the exchange, and board approval is expected in the coming months.
Bybit is a major Dubai-based crypto exchange that often tops the charts in terms of trading volume. It is licensed in the Netherlands, Turkey, and Canada. However, a significant portion of its users come from Russia and Ukraine, which are U.S. sanctioned territories. Bybit has been blacklisted in France, banned in Hong Kong, and temporarily suspended in India for operating without proper regulatory approval. Although its fee structure is similar to Binance and OKX, which attracts many users.
Bitbank is one of the top three crypto exchanges in Japan. Its website features a picture of famous Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Among the three ranked exchanges in Japan, Bitbank offers low-cost trading of popular altcoins. It maintains its high ranking due to its transparency, audited financial reporting, and strong crypto asset custody.
Revolut is a UK-based digital bank with a market cap of $45 billion. It provides banking, payments, savings, investment, and crypto trading services to over 50 million customers. Revolut aims to create a cutting-edge digital finance platform similar to JPMorgan Chase. It has launched a new, low-cost trading platform called Revolut X, which offers trading in over 200 crypto assets.
Crypto.com is one of the world’s most popular crypto exchanges. It invested $700 million in the 20-year naming rights for the Los Angeles Lakers’ arena and renewed its sponsorship of the Champions League. In January 2024, the company’s holdings of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets stood at $5.7 billion, up from $10 billion at the start of the year.
Formerly known as Huobi Global, HTX is a Chinese crypto exchange that was sold to a Hong Kong-based investment firm called About Capital Management in 2022. The company is owned by Tron founder Justin Sun. HTX is currently licensed in Australia, Dubai, and Lithuania, and made Forbes’ list for the first time in 2024. However, the company has yet to reveal the names of its beneficial owners and has not released audited financial reports, which has created some uncertainty for investors.
Deribit is a major Dubai-based crypto trading platform that specializes in derivatives (futures and options) trading. It allows investors to buy or sell crypto assets in the future at a specified price. In 2024, Deribit’s trading volume increased by 95% to $1.2 trillion. It has now added spot, futures, and perpetual trading, making it more convenient for institutional investors. It is licensed by Dubai regulators and is known as a trusted crypto derivatives platform.
Fidelity is a large financial institution with $15 trillion in total assets under management. It offers crypto trading services and launched the Spot Bitcoin ETF (FBTC) in 2024, which has achieved a valuation of $20 billion in a year. The company offers direct trading of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, but requires customers to have separate accounts.
Hashkey Exchange is a Hong Kong-based company that is one of two exchanges licensed under the country’s new crypto law. It has gained credibility due to its transparent transactions and security. The exchange has around 145,000 retail and 300 institutional customers. Hashkey Exchange charges relatively low trading fees, making it attractive to investors.
BitFlyer is a Japan-based crypto exchange that is the largest crypto asset holding platform in the country. It is approved by regulators in Japan, the United States, and Europe. Its trading fees range from 0% to 0.1%, which is relatively low. The exchange was formed with the support of major financial institutions such as Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, SBI Investment, and Dai-ichi Life Insurance. In March 2023, after the company's internal management problems were resolved, co-founder Yuzo Kano returned to CEO and plans to take the exchange public in the future.
Swissborg is a Switzerland-based crypto exchange that raised $52 million by selling its own coin (BORG). 23,000 retail investors participated. It operates under the AMF of France and other regulatory bodies. Swissborg offers users thematic investment opportunities, where investors can buy a collection of DeFi, MIM, gaming, or other large crypto assets. However, its trading fees are relatively high.
Coincheck is one of the top three crypto exchanges in Japan. It currently stores over $5 billion in customer assets. Only 8 crypto assets can be traded against the yen. While fees are low or sometimes free, its spreads (price differences) are much wider. In December 2024, Coincheck's shares began trading publicly on Nasdaq, with a market cap of $1.2 billion.
Bitfinex, launched in 2012, is operated under the same management as popular stablecoin company Tether. Although it is registered in the British Virgin Islands, most of its employees are based in the US and UK. It holds licenses from smaller countries like El Salvador and Kazakhstan, but two-thirds of its web traffic comes from unregulated regions like Europe, the US, South Korea and Japan. However, Bitfinex has partnered with Swiss asset management firm Lazard Group for its securities division, which has been in business for 175 years and manages $245 billion in assets.
Bitvavo is a Netherlands-based crypto exchange that operates primarily in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Thailand. It claims to have 1.5 million active customers and has over $2 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum reserved for its customers. Its daily spot trading volume is $545 million, which is higher than that of major exchanges like Gemini and Bitfinex. Its total cost, including trading fees and spreads, is around 40 bp.
Mindchain is a global decentralized network platform designed to enhance financial freedom and build a robust blockchain ecosystem. It operates on Mind Smart Chain (MSC), a high-speed, secure, and scalable blockchain that supports smart contracts and digital assets. With its Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus mechanism, Mindchain ensures fast transaction processing, low fees, and strong security. The ecosystem includes various projects, such as MindchainSwap (DEX), a centralized exchange (CEX), MindScan blockchain explorer, and MindPay digital wallet, making it a comprehensive blockchain solution.
Mindchain’s native token, MIND, follows the MIND-20 standard, similar to Ethereum’s ERC-20, with a total and max supply of 71 million tokens. The ecosystem also supports additional tokens, including MUSD (stablecoin), PMIND (reward token), BMIND (governance token), and WMIND (wrapped token for cross-chain transactions). By combining speed, security, and a user-friendly interface, Mindchain aims to revolutionize digital finance and decentralized applications worldwide.
Bitpanda is an Austria-based exchange that offers crypto trading as well as stocks, ETFs, precious metals, and other assets. It operates across Europe with approval from financial regulators in Austria and France. Its trading fees are relatively high at 1.5%, but it has partnered with banks like Deutsche Bank and Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg in Germany to help users easily convert crypto to fiat (traditional currency) and fiat to crypto.
In this list, we have highlighted 25 popular crypto exchanges worldwide. Japan’s Coincheck and BitFlyer hold strong positions in their local markets, while Bitfinex and OKX are playing a major role globally. Bybit and Bithumb are growing rapidly in terms of their trading volume and number of users. On the other hand, Bitvavo and Swissborg are relatively small but reliable exchanges that operate in specific markets. Bitpanda is a crypto exchange on the one hand, but it also offers traditional stock and investment services.
These exchanges have received approval from regulators in various countries, but some exchanges are not yet fully approved or are banned in various countries. Some exchanges are more attractive to investors in terms of trading fees and security. Overall, each exchange has its own characteristics and strategies, which are playing an important role in the expansion of the crypto market.
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